Need some help fast...

[nissmo300]

I restarted by computer today and I got this message.

NTLDR is missing.
Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart.

I pressed it and it comes back to the same screen. I have no idea what happen. I have a LOT of files on there and can't afford to lose them. Can anyone help me fix this?

[b1tchm4gn3t]

This might clear up your problem.....


http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/N/NTLDR.html

[nissmo300]

I tried:

copy e:\i386\ntldr c:
copy ntdetect.com c:

fixboot

fixmbr

It all come to the same screen. Is there anything else I can do or is reformat the only way? I can't boot enough to enter my bios. Is there a way I can do a sys restore?

If I do reformat. Is there any way to restore any of my files. I have a lot of them and it'll be a huge lose if I lost them. Will there be any way to restore them after the reformat?

[Tommyknocker]

My computer at work does that when I accientally leave a disk in when rebooting. Just a thought.

[nissmo300]

I did leave a disc in. I was burning something but it froze and at the same time I was closing the computer. Maybe the cd drive is still messed up and thats why its not working. Should I take out the cdrom drive a reboot? You think it'll work.

[gmatov]

If it's a home machine, why do you not re-install Win?

[nissmo300]

I have all these imporatnt files. I dont have them saved. I have a 120 GB and I partitioned it into 2 parts. I had save everything on one part incase something happen to the 1st one. But now the entire hard drive doesnt work.

Someone mentioned I buy a hard drive (was thinking about adding one anyway) and add this one as a logical drive. Will I be able to transfer my files from this one to the new one?

[parsonsj]

If there is a cd in the cdrom and your bios is set to bott from cdrom before the hard drive you can get this if you have one of the cdroms that has a little hole to manually eject the disc try that and see if it boots otherwise disconnect the cdrom and boot.

[nissmo300]

Tried it. I saw the gateway logo but it went back to the same screen.

[parsonsj]

There should be some way to get to the BIOS before it gets to the NTLDR part on my machines I hit the DEL key while it is checking the Memory. You don't have your profile filled out so I don't know your OS if it is WIN-XP and you can boot from your CD then you can do a repair.

[nissmo300]

It wont allow me to boot into safe or use delete. I have Winxp Pro.

[parsonsj]

I think on the gateway you hit the F1 or F2 Key when the gateway logo is on the screen. That should get you into the BIOS. See if you have a setting on which device to boot from and set it to CD and Boot from the WIN-XP Disc and one of your options is to do a Repair.


From XP-PRO Help:

Have you tried repairing your installation of Windows XP?
Running Windows Setup from the Windows CD can often repair a damaged Windows installation.

To repair your installation of Windows

Place the Windows XP CD in the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive.

If the Windows CD displays the What would you like to do? menu, click Exit.
Turn off your computer, wait ten seconds, and then turn your computer back on.

If you are prompted to start your computer from the CD, do so.
After Windows XP Setup starts, press ENTER to continue the setup process.
Press ENTER to choose the option To set up Windows XP now, press ENTER. Do not choose the Recovery Console option.
Press F8 to accept the licensing agreement.
At this point, the Setup program will search for previous installations of Windows XP. If Setup does not find a previous installation of Windows XP, then you might have a hardware failure. Click No, I still have a problem when I try to start Windows below, and then click Next to continue troubleshooting.

If Setup does find a previous installation of Windows XP, then the following message will appear:
" If one of the following Windows XP installations is damaged, setup can try to repair it.
Use the up and down arrows to select an installation.
To repair the selected installation Press R.
To continue without repairing, Press Esc."

Choose the appropriate installation of Windows XP, and then press R to attempt to repair it.
Follow the remaining directions on your screen.
Notes

You might need to change the boot drive sequence in your BIOS settings in order to successfully start your computer from the Windows CD. Contact the manufacturer of your computer, or see your manufacturer's documentation, for more information.
If you are unable to start your computer from the Windows XP CD, then you might have a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive failure or other hardware failure. Hardware failures are beyond the scope of this troubleshooter. Consult a computer hardware specialist for further assistance or try the Hardware troubleshooter.

[nissmo300]

Can you guys show me how to put the damaged HD into my other computer thats is running the same thing winxp pro so I can save my files?

This wont damage this computer too will it?

[b1tchm4gn3t]

did you do what I said and started up with a win startup disk and type in 'sys C:' at the command prompt?

[nissmo300]

Hi thanks a lot for all your help. I manged to take the HD and put it in as a slave to my other computer. I can access all my files. The werid thing is when I look a C: the missing files are THERE. I dont know whats going on here. After I backup my files and put my HD back in my computer and reformat from the begging again will I have this problem? I read somewhere else that someone tried this and got the same message again. Do you think this is a hardware isssue like MB? Do you think its a HD problem?